Making a Difference

In addition to potty training, I have been very busy spending my time researching and focusing on various different things - what we eat being the main one. Some other things I have been focusing my time and energy researching include: coupons, cookware, T.V. education, painting/decorating kid's rooms and selling various baby things.

Update on me: Many of you probably know I haven't been feeling well the past few months and this has undoubtedly jump started my motivation to research and change our diets in our house. Finding out what exactly it is that we are putting in our bodies was a goal I planned to achieve shortly after finishing school and my not feeling well has definitely caused this to become one of my top priorities. I would also like to update that I have been feeling much better. Not sure that it was caused from a change in diet (as I started feeling better before I really changed my diet) or if it was from the medication my doctor prescribed me. She thought I had gastritis (sp?) an irritation of the lining of the stomach.

Food changes: I know many of you have wanted to know what all I have done as far as food changes go so here goes. First, I am so lucky to have friends that I can go to for resources and tips. This can be such a overwhelming thing to take on and I have procrastinated because I simply didn't know where to start. So most of my info is coming from my friends who have educated me and I wanted to share what I have learned with all of you and hope you can take something from it.

I am still in the process of really researching what certain "bad food ingredients" are, what they are used for and what they do to the body. I will go ahead and share what I am working on eliminating from or at least limiting from our diet. If you google "bad food ingredients" it will pull up a whole slew of things and almost everyone has HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), MSG, hydrogenated oils/transfat, nitrates, aspartame among many others at the top of the list. Many websites will give a short description of what each of these actually is etc. I also found several links like the one below that actually lists the foods in a chart format and tells what it is, what it is used for, what it does to your body. http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/9-ingredients-to-avoid-in-processed-foods-1268429/

I have gradually been finishing off many foods in my pantry and fridge that have these ingredients in most of them. I can't bring myself to throw them away. :) As I run out of things, I am replacing them with a much healthier version. So, for now, the things I am reducing/eliminating from our diet include: foods with transfats and/or hydrogenated oils, MSG, nitrates, HFCS, preservatives, hormone induced poultry and beef, artificial sweetener, premade or boxed foods. Really trying to cut down on the processed foods.

I have switched from canned veggies to frozen or fresh (mainly frozen) due to the BPA found in cans and also because veggies are more fresh if frozen or fresh out of the produce because many canned vegetables lose nutrients. Again, I am no expert at this - I am just starting my research, this is just what I have learned thus far.

Peanut butter, jelly, syrup (I buy pure maple syrup), honey (I buy the N. Dallas Honey Co. honey in the orange label), bread, ketchup, chips, crackers - there are options that do not have HFCS, preservatives, hydrogenated oils etc. in them and even at the regular ole grocery store. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have to start shopping at certain stores to find these items. If you would like specifics of certain brands of foods that don't have these bad food ingredients, I will gladly share.

Flour - I currently have bleached flour (bad bad bad) in my pantry and have been using it up but after that no more. I will primarily use wheat flour but also do combine all purpose flour (unbleached) when I make waffles or muffins from scratch. Speaking of waffles and muffins, I have started making them from scratch rather than buying the pre-made kind. Saves money and so much healthier. I took this idea from my friend who makes hers in bulk and freezes them; then thaws them when ready to eat. I spent several hours a couple days last week making muffins and waffles but it will last me a while. I found a couple of muffin recipes I like and got a waffle/pancake recipe from a friend. I will share if interested.

Also I would like to point out that this isn't necessarily a low calorie or the lowest calorie diet possible; just a healthier, more natural way of eating. I always thought our diet wasn't "that bad" but little did I know how much crap was in the foods we were eating. We are trying to eat whole wheat & whole grains pasta, bread, brown rice. And brown sugar over white sugar when possible. Also, chips... I bought some chips and was in too big a hurry to really look over the label while at the store. I bought baked chips and regular chips and noticed when I got home that the baked chips which are lower in calories, have MSG, dyes, artificial colors and flavors and a ton of other ingredients in them, and the "On The Border Cantina Thins" have no hydrogenated oils, no artificial flavors or colors, low sodium, and are gluten free. These chips have 20 more calories per serving than the baked but with much fewer junk in them. The baked chips have at least 20 ingredients and the OTB chips have less than 6 ingredients. The less ingredients, the better. **Update** I've seen a drastic change in the ingredients in chips. Seems like 2 years ago when I first started researching, Lays had hydrogenated oils in them but just this week (3/19/12) I was at the store looking at several bags of chips and noticed lots more healthy(ier) choices.

Spaghetti sauce, sloppy joe sauce... you can either buy a healthier version or make your own from scratch. Salt and sugar, I just try to cut down on both of these and buy items with low or no salt and low or no sugar. I am kinda jumping all over right now, but you have to watch your labels because they can call some ingredients by different names and if you aren't careful, you could be eating the things you think you are avoiding.

Nitrates are found in a lot of lunch meats, hotdogs - packaged meats. Just look for the labeling to read "nitrate/nitrite free". Same with other foods - just look for the label to say "no MSG, no hydrogenated oils, no HFCS" etc. I buy all my meats at Whole Foods except lunch meat. Hormel in the brown box can be found at Kroger and is Nitrate free.

We have also started buying chicken and beef that is not hormone induced. Grass fed beef, USDA organic eggs. We eat USDA organic yogurt (Stonyfield brand) - yoplait etc is loaded with dyes, sugar, HFCS and junk. Milk and cheese - I still buy the regular stuff because I read the label that says my milk has no rbst hormone in it. The jury is still out on this decision... but for now we are sticking with the regular milk/cheese rather than organic. **Update** We do USDA organic milk now.

Craig and I have tossed up the idea of buying meat and possibly some fruits/veggies from a local farmers market or local farmers who sell to the public. I found a website called Local Harvest where you can put in your zip code and find local farmers that will sell to you. Click here for the link. We have also talked about him hunting year round and eating only wild meat that is truly eating organically and not being pumped full of hormones and chemicals. We have also tossed around the idea of having our own garden with a few fruits and veggies, although I don't know that this is something I have the time to take on. The jury is still out on fresh produce and whether or not to go organic on that. I have heard about the "organic" label controversy. Organic is much more expensive and I don't want to buy organic if it isn't truly organic. It is sad that we can't 100% trust the food labels but ultimately it all comes down to money and it seems that is all the food industry is driven by is --- $$$ and not healthy eating.

TV Education: We have also been watching several food documentaries - one being Food Inc., another - Food Matters and also I now record and watch the Dr. Oz show every day. Food Inc. is very eye-opening and really gives a good explanation as to how our beef, poultry, grains and fruits and veggies are being produced in such a non-organic way and only because $$$ is the primary concern. Producing in the fastest and cheapest way to turn the biggest profit is #1 in their eyes. I would encourage you to watch it if you haven't already. Food Matters is also a good film discussing similar topics in addition to prescription drugs vs. natural, healthy diet and vitamins to help heal the ill. Lastly, the Dr. Oz show has awesome demonstrations that really helps one to better understand the way things with the body work - his show is interesting and never boring. He discusses everything from health concerns such as GI problems to neurological from PMS to you name it. He discusses vitamins and what you should take at different ages. He gives tips on how to handle certain fruits and veggies to rid them of the majority of the pesticides found on them. I can share if interested - just LMK. Oh and PS, speaking of vitamins... check your multi vitamin labels you are giving to your kids. Chances are, if you are buying it from Target or Walmart or some place similar, it has HFCS in it. I buy my kids' vitamins at the Vitamin Shoppe and chose one that they recommended which doesn't have HFCS in it.

Cookware: Dr. Oz discusses what types of cookware to use... Which is something else we are looking to replace soon. All our cookware is Teflon and some are even chipped up - I have thrown away 2 pans thus far. The jury is still out on this as well as to what to get. I'm open to any tips any of you have on this or anything I have discussed. **Update** We bought hard anodized nonstick cookware, after lots of research. Easy to clean but isn't like teflon.

Plastics: Another thing I learned from Dr. Oz... plastics (I have learned so much just in the few weeks I have been watching, my head is spinning trying to store it all)... We haven't decided to do away with our plastic food storage containers just yet but I did take a quick inventory and made sure none of them have a #3 or #7 in the triangle. These plastics may let off dangerous chemicals like BPA. Good rule of thumb - don't put hot foods in plastics as the food will melt the chemicals out of the plastic and in the food and don't microwave food in plastic containers. **Update** We still use plastic occasionally to store food but for the most part I use pyrex glass containers.

Coupons: Another big thing I have been wanting to do for a while, and have attempted in the past but always failed, is clipping coupons. I can see that every little bit helps and if you take a little extra time to organize this, it can really help save money. Again, I got several of my resources from a friend and I will share with you some links on here. Money Saving Mom is a fabulous resource. This website has printable coupons, deals that stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens are having, recipes and much more. There are even direct links on here where you can read and print off different store's coupon policy to have with you in the event a store doesn't want to honor your coupon. You can also print off coupons here for Target coupons. coupons.com and afullcup.com are also awesome websites to print coupons on. I could go into some tips for clipping coupons but this post is really long and you probably already know the tricks to save the most anyway. :) Shop where coupons can be doubled, double up on mfg. and store coupons, use coupon on an item on sale etc. **Update** I am not a good couponer... I try to save some here and there but not much.

Misc.: In addition to all this, I have been busy with selling various baby items, Craigslist shopping for some furniture for the girl's room, painting and decorating the kid's rooms (the girl's room is finished, btw and Tyler's is almost finished - pics to come soon) and have just enrolled (all be it late) myself and the trio in a MOPS group in Allen to which I am very excited to start this coming Friday.

I would love to hear from you and hear any thoughts/tips you would like to share on anything I discussed.

As a stay at home mom, I am excited about making these life-changes and am going to try to stick with it as much as I can. Providing my family with healthier meals and saving money in the process by cooking more from scratch and also by clipping coupons, hopefully I will feel more like I am making a contribution and/or making a difference.